Music list for Sound Quality testing (or simple enjoyment)

nice thread idea
I had read that an ipod hooked thru dice had a superior dynamic range,
I hooked up the dice and it's true, far superior to the cd or fm in the car, so after you get your list, convert the cd to mp3 at the highest bit rate you can(freemp3) is an aftermarket mp3 converter that allows higher bit rates, and enjoy the sound.
I'm an analoge guy and digits don't really work for me for great sound, yes cd is superior to mp3, but the factory unit rapes the sound of cd, and it doesn't affect the sound of the ipod, jmho

 

If we were on your or my home system, hands down cd is of a higher quality, but on the prius system the dice enabled mp3 sounds much more dynamic than the cd player, again , I'm an analoge kind of guy, thousands of audiophile quality records, everything that was ever any good is being released on vinyl, and in my opinion vinyl is superior to cd, ok, sacd on a great system may be equal to vinyl but you can get great vinyl sound on a so-so system, I honestly don't have any favorite cd's, never listen to them seriously, but I can go on and on about great records,

 

Easy E - Boyz in the Hood
Turn up the base, adjust the treble and sit back and watch your rearview mirror shake, rattle and roll.

 

Almost anything from Telarc is extremely well mastered and recorded. They were doing digital recordings when the rest of the industry was still working with wax 78 RPMs.

Tom

 

Anything by Tangerine Dream would make for great stereo system testing, besides being really cool music to listen to (especially on long drives). Their music has a huge range in dynamics and frequencies that can reveal the limitations of your components. And their production is famously meticulous.

Recommendation: Underwater Sunlight, Logos, Live Miles.

 

Paul Oakenfold--Faster Kill Pussycat. I'm still amazed at how great the Toyota factory stereo sounds

 

I'll second the Telarc Digital recordings and add that anything released by Sheffield Labs is exceptional.
Some popular favorites of mine (though not Telarc or Sheffield):
Dave Matthews Band - Crash
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing & Brothers in Arms
Flim & the BB's - Tricycle
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun

 

Barenaked Ladies - If I had $1000000

Good demo since a lot of people know the song. Very musical in both vocals and instruments.

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Riviera Paradise. Clean, spacious, and subtle. Bass, drums, piano, and of course guitar. Riviera Paradise is a truly soulful nine-minute instrumental composition of jazz and blues.

This is a phenomenal recording and can be used to test audio systems before purchase and fine-tune systems in place – in my subjective opinion.

 

I found this Audio Test CD the other day:
http://binkster.net/extras.shtml#cd. For testing, not enjoying, though. It has precise frequencies and sweeps, etc. for finding dead spots, testing your crossovers or whatever. It's intended for your home system, but might be interesting in the car (if you're into that sort of thing). The low frequencies were good for finding rattles in my windows, doors and metal fireplace at home.

- Doug

 

The best way to test sound quality is with classical orchestral music. You need a wide range of volume and timbre in the recording to really listen to the quality of the system.